Borg admits paying cleaner cash-in-hand
Finance minister Anders Borg has admitted that he employed a cleaner who he paid cash-in-hand, without declaring the arrangement to the tax board.
"I've made a mistake here, I have bought services in a way in which I ought not to have done," he said.
Borg confessed that between 1997 and 1999 he paid for cleaning services around once a month.
According to the finance minister the people he used also cleaned other homes and probably earned more than the 16,000 kronor a year which was then the level at which tax was due.
But Borg never submitted income statements for the cleaners to the tax board.
"It is probably the case that these people earned more than the 16,000 kronor a year which you could earn without paying tax, so I've probably broken a rule there," he said.
The finance minister does not believe that his payment to the cleaners exceeded 10,000 kronor per year and he was therefore not liable to pay employers' tax.
However, he should have sent income statements to the authorities.
Anders Borg said that he had not discussed the matter with prime minister Fredrik Reinfeldt.
On the question of whether his slip-up was so serious that he ought to follow fellow ministers Maria Borelius and Cecilia Stegö Chilò and resign, Borg said:
"I have made a serious mistake which I regret. I very much want to continue what I consider to be my task, but it's not up to me to judge that."
Earlier on Monday it emerged that Anders Borg had also employed a nanny without notifying the tax authorities. But the nanny also accused him of paying her cash in hand, said Aftonbladet and Expressen.
The woman, who is now 23 years old, claimed that she looked after their son on a regular basis, often twice a week, for two and a half hours at a time. She maintained that she earned over 10,000 kronor a year, which would have required the Borg family to pay payroll tax.
"I am reasonably sure that the amount did not exceed 10,000 kronor. You can't be sure of things that happened six, seven years ago," said the finance minister.
Borg admitted that he ought to have submitted the relevant papers in that case too.
"It's a regrettable mistake - one should follow all the rules," he said.
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"I've made a mistake here, I have bought services in a way in which I ought not to have done," he said.
Borg confessed that between 1997 and 1999 he paid for cleaning services around once a month.
According to the finance minister the people he used also cleaned other homes and probably earned more than the 16,000 kronor a year which was then the level at which tax was due.
But Borg never submitted income statements for the cleaners to the tax board.
"It is probably the case that these people earned more than the 16,000 kronor a year which you could earn without paying tax, so I've probably broken a rule there," he said.
The finance minister does not believe that his payment to the cleaners exceeded 10,000 kronor per year and he was therefore not liable to pay employers' tax.
However, he should have sent income statements to the authorities.
Anders Borg said that he had not discussed the matter with prime minister Fredrik Reinfeldt.
On the question of whether his slip-up was so serious that he ought to follow fellow ministers Maria Borelius and Cecilia Stegö Chilò and resign, Borg said:
"I have made a serious mistake which I regret. I very much want to continue what I consider to be my task, but it's not up to me to judge that."
Earlier on Monday it emerged that Anders Borg had also employed a nanny without notifying the tax authorities. But the nanny also accused him of paying her cash in hand, said Aftonbladet and Expressen.
The woman, who is now 23 years old, claimed that she looked after their son on a regular basis, often twice a week, for two and a half hours at a time. She maintained that she earned over 10,000 kronor a year, which would have required the Borg family to pay payroll tax.
"I am reasonably sure that the amount did not exceed 10,000 kronor. You can't be sure of things that happened six, seven years ago," said the finance minister.
Borg admitted that he ought to have submitted the relevant papers in that case too.
"It's a regrettable mistake - one should follow all the rules," he said.
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